Sheepshearing-machine comb



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F. G. w. BRISTOW SHEEPSHEARING MACHINE COMB Filed Jan. 4 1922 ATT'Y-Patented July 1, W24.

runner earner rerun.

FRANCIS GEORGE WILLIAM BRISTOW, OF SYDNEY, NEW SQUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA.

SHEEPSHEARING-MACHINE (18MB.

Application filed January .1., 1922. Serial No. 526,978.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, FRANoIs GEORGE WIL- LIAM Bnrs'row, subject of theKing of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Sydney,

5 New South Wales, Australia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in.

Sheepshearing-Machine Combs, of which the following is a specification.

In the machine shearing of sheep, the

comb and cutter plates at the forward end of the shearing handpiece areburied under the fleece and cannot be seen by the shearer.

The wool is shorn strip after strip, the ma chine being run at each cutthrough the marginal portion of the uncut fleece next the shorn area.The traverse of the work is left to right in the case-of a right-handshearer and from right to left in the case of a lefthand shearer. It iscommon practice for the shearer to carry the side of the comb exposedoverlapping the margin of the last out so as thereby to take in thefleece at the edge of the new cut and avoid leaving ridges or feathersof uncut wool, the presence of which necessitates double cutting toremove them. The strip of fleece thus removed in each cut isconsequently narrower than the comb width, and a proportionately largernumber of cuts is there fore required for removal of a given width offleece. Furthermore, as the shearer cannot observe the comb where it ishidden under the fleece, the skin of the sheep is liable to injury bythe digging in of the comb points at wrinkles and folds.

In a known type of comb, provision is made for laterally splaying eitheror both end teeth ofthe comb for the double purpose of gathering in theedge portion of the uncut fleece, so that the leaving of uncut ridgeswill be avoided, and offering the shearer a visible indicator of thecombs p0- sition under the fleece so that he will not be required tocarry the side of the comb overlapping the already cut area. Thesefeatures are of great practical utility, but they do not provide againstthe risk of digging in the comb points into the skin of the sheep, forthough in some cases the splayed teeth were lengthened slightly thelengthening was incidental to the splaying and was not directed to andwas not effective for the purposes of the present invention. The presentinvention aims at the provision of me ns where y the risk of Cutting theSheep is minimized irrespectively of the lateral splaying of the outerteeth of the comb to obtain an indication to the shearer that the combis gathering in the margin of the fleece and not leaving a feather ofuncut wool next the margin of the preceding out.

In the case of the known feature of the laterally splayed end tooth orteeth, a practical difiiculty has been met in that repeated grinding ofthe comb face ultimately brings the splayed tooth end to a sharp point.This sharp point is apt to enter the'skin of the sheep at folds orcreases and make cuts or tears therein. The present invention includesmeans whereby this objectionable condition is obviated.

The present invention therefore consists in forwardly extending the endteeth of the comb substantially beyondthe are formed by the tips of theintermediate teeth, and in downbending such extended portions of the endteeth so that their tips will not be touched in regrinding the comb,and-thereby sharpened. The extended tooth ends are preferably formedsomewhat heavier in section than the ends of the intermediate teeth andare finished offsmoothly to blunt ends, which cannot, by any normalforce applied. in use, be driven into the sheeps skin. The extended endsmay be outbent or splayed to obtain the advantage of the knownconstruction. in which the normal end teeth are laterally outbent orsplayed as already described. The forward extensions of the end teethmay be integral with the comb structure, but may be procured by fittingadapter extension shoes to standard combs having normal teeth.

In the accompanying explanatory drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a comb having the right hand side or bottomtooth extended forwardly, downbent, and splayed outwardly;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a like comb having the invention applied tothe left hand side or top tooth;

Fig. 3 is a similar view in which the invention is shown applied to thetop and to the bottom teeth of a comb Fig. 4 is a fragmentary viewsimilar to Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view corresponding to Fig. 1 and clearlyshowing the own ent and l n p fea ures;

. end teeth 2 are provided with a forward extension 2* which measuresabout a quarter of an inch more or less in advance of the are formed bythe tips of the intermediate teeth 3that is suflicient to form a ridinghorn or riding horns i to run on the skin of the sheep, and the lateralsplay is about sufficient to obtain a gather equal to that which wouldbe obtained by making the comb one tooth wider on either side. The

downbending (Fig. 5) extends. from the tooth face trim line (a)forwardly for twothirds more or less of the thickness of the comb plate,as it is in new condition before regrinding. H

7 The effect of forwardly extending either or both end teeth 2 of thecomb 1 is to facilitate entry of the comb into the fleece, andto'stretch the skin of the sheep and hold it clear of the points of theintermediate teeth The smooth blunt extensions or horn's 4: ride easilyover the skin. The intermediate teeth 3 are therefore not blocked in theadvance movement by digging into the sheeps skin, and the work of theshearer is lightened and facilitated.

When the extension 2 is obtained by means of a shoe plate 5, for eitherend tooth 2 (Figs..6 and'7) or for both end teeth '(Fig. '8) said plate5 is formed as a stamping in sheet metal to set under the comb, its hornor horns i being, when so desired, splayed outwardly and downbent. Thesingle or full width shoe plate is secured in position by the usualfixing screws by which the comb is held on the lower jaw of the shearinghandpieee.

hat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1.A sheep shearing machine comb comprising a plurality of intermediateteeth, and an end tooth extending beyond the are formed by the tips ofthe intermediate teeth, said extended tooth being outwardly splayed, theextended portion of said tooth being downwardly curved and the tipthereof blunted.

2. A sheep shearing machine comb comprising a pair of end teeth, and aplurality of intermediate teeth, said end teeth extending beyond the areformed by the tips of the intermediate teeth, said extended teeth beingoutwardly splayed and the tips thereof blunted, the extended portion ofeach of said end teeth being of greater cross section than theintermediate teeth.

3. A sheep shearing machine comb comprising a plurality of teeth, one ofthe end teeth having a downwardly curved and for wardly extended ridinghorn.

4. A sheep shearing machine comb comprising a plurality of teeth, one ofthe end teeth having an outwardly splayed, downwardly curved andforwardly extended riding horn.

5. A sheep shearing machine comb comprising a plurality of teeth, and ashoe disposed on one of the end teeth of said comb, said shoe beingoutwardly splayed, downwardly curved, and forwardly extended beyond thetips of the intermediate comb teeth. 7 6. A sheep shearing machine combcom prising aplurality of teeth, and a shoe disposed on each of the endteeth of said comb, said shoes being outwardly splayed, downwardlycurved, and forwardly extended beyond the tips of the intermediate combteeth.

7. A sheep shearing machine comb comprising a plurality of teeth, and ashoe disposed on one of the end teeth of said comb, said shoe beingoutwardly splayed, downwardly curved, and forwardly extended beyond thetips of the intermediate comb teeth and having the tip thereof blunted.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature.

FRANCIS GEORGE WILLIAM BRISTOW.

